Jack Devlin opens 2016 with 3rd place at British Enduro Series

Vitus Bikes Development rider Jack Devlin headed to AE Forest in Scotland last weekend for Round 2 of the British Enduro Series. Having made the move from downhill racing for 2016 the race would be Jack’s first competition onboard his Vitus Sommet VRX. We catch up with Jack as he reports back from the weekend’s racing

They always say preparation is key when it comes to racing and as I did some final training ahead of travelling to Scotland things couldn’t have been any worse! Last Wednesday saw me get a little too familiar with a tree stump resulting in a broken toe and bent crank. Thankfully Chain Reaction Cycles came to the rescue and at the 11th hour we managed to get the Sommet race ready once again. As for my toe .. that was another matter!

I’m used to DH events which involve a full day of practice ahead of race day. The BES is a little different with practice and half of the stages of racing being on the same day. The weekend provided miserable weather with constant rain, gale force winds and single single digit temperatures. I practiced the first 3 stages on Saturday with 1 and 2 being quite peadally and 3 being a rad, super slick dark downhill sort of track.

As I started the race stage 1 and 2 were all good and as I headed onto stage 3 I was really looking forward to it given my DH background. Unfortunately I binned it pretty bad on the top section, lost my composure and managed to have a few more sloppy crashes on the stage. As Saturday came to a close I was in 2nd place.

Sunday started in a blaze of glory with a bit of a race to get around all the stages for myself as we left an hour late. I had only got down the hill and it was time to go up again but I needed lunch, ended up being 10 – 15 min late for my set off time and had to storm up the hill! With only a 30 sec breather before I had to go there was no rest! I just went for it, being busted before I even left, stage 5 was all good and I knew I was riding well. Stage 6 was just about to get underway when I realized I had a puncture. With no time to spare I had to just go for it.

Sunday saw me drop a place to finish in 3rd place. A lot learned from the weekend and I’m delighted to take the podium on my first British Round.

Jack now heads to the opening round of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup at Castlewellan Forest Park this weekend. With a home advantage Jack is hoping to take the win. Make sure and follow us on Instagram for updates from the event.